Season previews for teams
It has been almost 20 years since a graduating class of Brown hockey players went their entire collegiate careers without experiencing a losing season. Not since 1978, in fact, but the graduating class of 2006 could join the Bears’ exclusive company of consistent four-year winners. The prime factor weighing against the Bears is the loss … Read more
St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh always books a challenging out-of-conference schedule, but last season it was a stretch of league games in January and February that hurt the Saints’ playoff hopes. Starting with a January 21 matchup against Rensselaer in Appleton Arena, the Saints flatlined against league foes, going 2-8-1 over an 11-game span. That … Read more
While the 2004-2005 season may be one that fans of the Yale Bulldogs would just as soon forget, this coming year they will see a team take the ice at Ingalls Rink that is almost exactly the same as last year’s model. Only one starter — forward Nick Shalek — and two role players — … Read more
There’s no way to know for sure how Phil Kessel and the rest of the Minnesota freshman class will fare this season, but if they even come close to matching their potential, the Golden Gophers have a great thing going. And that’s not even mentioning the rest of the scoring punch, a well-stocked defense and … Read more
After a major step in the wrong direction sent 11 seniors out of the Minnesota-Duluth program on a disappointing note, this year’s group of seniors has a different sendoff in mind. A year after going to the Frozen Four, the Bulldogs stumbled to a sixth-place WCHA finish and a 15-17-6 overall record that was a … Read more
Mike Eaves’ fourth Wisconsin team is getting its share of attention because of what it didn’t lose rather than what it did. The Badgers return 98 percent of their scoring from last season and are primed to make their name as a scoring team rather than a defensive one if they can get their offensive … Read more
There are any number of ways to measure progress, but the most readily accessible is wins and losses. In coach Jamie Russell’s first season at Michigan Tech, 2003-04, the Huskies were 8-25-5 overall and 6-19-3 in the WCHA. Last season, Tech was 8-25-4 and 7-19-2 in the league — virtually unchanged. That lack of a … Read more
One could make a case that Minnesota State didn’t have many things going in its favor in an eighth-place campaign a year ago. It did have David Backes and Travis Morin, and one of the best things going into this season is they’re both back to help the Mavericks in their drive to get back … Read more
With its third Frozen Four appearance in the five-year history of the NCAA women’s hockey tournament, St. Lawrence solidified its status as one of the nation’s elite programs. But while the Frozen Four banners have been perennial, the championship banners have not – at either the conference or national level. Could this be the year … Read more
Numbers can be powerful, but not all-telling. Colorado College returns 91 percent of its goal-scoring from a year ago, most of it in the forms of Hobey Baker Award winner Marty Sertich and award finalist Brett Sterling. It has 21 players returning from the team that tied Denver for the WCHA regular-season championship and made … Read more
Over a span of just five short seasons, St. Cloud State went from its highest highs to its lowest lows. From the viewpoint of the Huskies’ ninth-place WCHA finish of a year ago, memories of the 31-win season of 2001 are awfully fuzzy. That’s about the same view Bob Motzko has about his first team … Read more
Four years ago, Dave Shyiak and John Hill were the finalists for the open head coaching position at Alaska-Anchorage. Hill got the job then, with his tight connections to the city and the school — his alma mater — the big reasons why. The Hill era was tumultuous, with off-ice issues and a one-win season … Read more
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The WCHA is going to be so tough this year … Yep, right before the start of every season it seems anyone connected to the WCHA is putting forth the opinion that the six months that lie ahead will provide some of the best competition the league … Read more
There are differing opinions on what to expect out of North Dakota this season, but history suggests that discounting the Sioux because they lost a few players is a bad idea. A year ago, the UND offense was supposed to be in peril because it lost stars Zach Parise and Brandon Bochenski to the pros. … Read more
Entering its fourth year, College Hockey America is playing with already its third different four-team configuration. But while conference membership has constantly been in flux, the standing leadership has not. No matter the CHA opponents, Mercyhurst has torn through them. The Lakers are a near-perfect 34-1-1 in CHA competition, including the postseason. With four of … Read more
The 80 goals of production lost will be hard to replace. So will the experience of the four departed defensemen out of the regular lineup. But the way the Denver Pioneers have taken care of things in the last two seasons, those might turn out to be merely minor inconveniences. En route to back-to-back NCAA … Read more
The next Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner won’t likely come from the U.S. Air Force Academy. But in listening to the Falcons’ coach and key players talk, this year has the potential to be an all-out “ultimate team” on the ice in Colorado Springs, with no single player taking the spotlight. After a first-round overtime … Read more
As you look back at last year’s Holy Cross team, you have to think that the 2004-05 edition of the Crusaders was one of the better teams to play in either the MAAC or Atlantic Hockey and not take home any hardware. It would seem like last year’s ‘Cross club had everything — two solid … Read more
When Tim Olsen arrived on the UConn campus four years ago, no one knew the impact he could have. Having transferred from Division III Augsburg, head coach Bruce Marshall knew he had a talented player but didn’t know he’d watch Olsen net 100 points in his three seasons in Storrs. Now for the first time … Read more
Bentley joins a handful of bottom-half preseason picks in wondering what things between the pipes will look like this season. With the graduation of Simon St. Pierre, who recorded all but six decisions last season, the Falcons will hope to answer the goaltending question immediately with the addition of Ray Jean, a transfer from Maine. … Read more